According to the statement, the restrictions will affect all ships, regardless of the country, if they head to Iranian ports or leave them in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. does not plan to restrict passage through the Strait of Hormuz to ports of other countries, Radio Liberty reported.
US President Donald Trump earlier announced the start of a naval blockade and instructed the navy to block ships, as well as to identify and detain in international waters those that paid Iran a fee for passage through the strait.
The decision comes after the failure of U.S.-Iran talks in Islamabad on April 11. The parties failed to agree on the key issue – Tehran’s nuclear program.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House is discussing further steps – from resuming limited strikes on Iran to a larger military operation, but the latter option is considered less likely because of the risk of a protracted conflict.
The Journal’s sources note that the Trump administration is also considering a short-term blockade with the subsequent transfer of some responsibility for the safety of navigation to allies.
Amid the escalation, the price of Brent crude oil again exceeded 100 dollars per barrel.
At the same time, Israel, whose army took part in the fighting against Iran along with the US, is stepping up military readiness. Chief of General Staff Eyal Zamir ordered to put the IDF on high alert, accelerate the updating of the list of targets in Iran and prepare for the possible development of the conflict in several directions at once.
The Israeli security establishment believes that the failure of the US-Iran talks shows the deepening differences between the sides and reduces the chances of a diplomatic solution. On the political level, the Israeli side is satisfied with the hard line of the US delegation in Pakistan, but was not surprised by the failure of the talks.
